Generally, our mantra here at Borough Hall is “more is more.”  More jobs.  More economic development.  More parks.  More cultural institutions.  More community centers.  More transportation options.
 
In some cases, like preserving the “bedroom community” feel that much of the borough now has, we fight like heck to maintain the status quo.  That’s important to us, too.
 
But there are, of course, certain areas where we don’t like being at the top of the heap.  Having the longest commute times, for example, is a particularly onerous distinction.  Another unwanted distinction – and quite a frightening one – is the fact that our borough has had the highest increase in Lyme Disease cases by far when expressed on a per capita basis.
 
Here are two charts that illustrate the extent of our Lyme Disease problem:

​As you can see, over the course of a dozen years or so, confirmed cases in our borough increased by a whopping 200%.  That 185% more than the Bronx, and a full 72% more than our nearest neighbor, Brooklyn.
 
When expressed as the number of confirmed Lyme cases per 100,000 individuals, we again lead the way, sporting a 183% increase in the period covering 2005-2016.  That is 173% more than the Bronx, 216% more than Manhattan (whose numbers decreased) and 59% more than the runner-up, Brooklyn.
 
It’s also worth noting that since Staten Island is the only borough with a permanent significant deer population, the likelihood is that many Lyme victims from the other boroughs contracted the disease through travel outside the city.  That’s a lot less likely to be the case here on Staten Island.
 
It’s not too far a leap to conclude that there’s a direct correlation between our exploding deer population and the rise in confirmed Lyme Disease cases.  Take a look at the chart below and it’s quite apparent; deer population has risen by 158% in the short period between the 2014 radar survey and the conclusion of the 2016/17 vasectomy program.

It’s important to note that the vasectomy program is a pilot program; it will likely take many years to measure its effect on the deer population, and whether that, in turn, will lead to a corresponding decrease in Lyme cases.  And since culling or introducing natural predators is not going to happen anytime soon, we need to take other measures to lower the incidence of Lyme Disease.
 
Prevention is at the top of the list.
 
Prevention starts with education and awareness, and that means reading this is not enough, you need to talk about it with friends, family, neighbors, pretty much anybody who spends much time outdoors. Wear the proper clothing.  Use the proper sprays.  Ask someone to help you perform an inspection when you get back indoors.
 
The effects of a long-term case of Lyme Disease is not annoyance, it is debilitation.  Take it seriously; ignore it at your own peril.

​Most kids look to their parents, or other relatives, for guidance as they meander down life’s highway – I know I did.  After all, who more than they have your best interests at heart?  But sometimes we find ourselves lost in a place that they’re just not familiar with, that’s beyond their life experience - especially as it relates to college and career choices.  Then they are, sadly, no help at all. 
 
It’s not that they don’t care; it’s that they don’t know.
 
In my case I was the first in my family to go to college, so when it came to making life-impacting choices I was virtually on my own.  Yes, mine were loving parents who worked hard and sacrificed to provide me with a better life, but this was brand new territory for them.   And I found that the further along I got in my education, the more important the choices became, the more complicated the factors that needed to be considered, and the more impactful a right or wrong decision would be on my future.
 
But I did what I thought I had to do.  I buried my head in my college texts and worked hard.  I buried my head in my law books and worked even harder.  I buried my head in long and tedious review tomes and worked harder still – and passed the bar.  I breathed a deep sigh of relief, allowed myself a brief, self-congratulatory pat on the back, looked up with anticipation, and found myself…nowhere.
 
I did everything I was supposed to – and did it pretty well – but the world didn’t seem to be beating a path to my door.  I wasn’t being showered with job offers.  I had no idea how to find my paths forward – let alone choose the right one.  And then fate led me to the door of John A. Fusco, and I finally had what I never realized I so desperately needed: a mentor.
 
Here was someone who knew the ropes; who knew what to seek out and what to avoid.  Here was someone who could teach me when and how to use a shortcut and when not to, when to read each and every word and when I could just flip to the final chapter.  Having already navigated law and politics with enviable success he paid it forward, eventually helping me to succeed him in the New York City Council and to this day, at age 79, he still offers me sage advice and counsel.
 
When it comes to mentors you should do one of two things: go see one or go be one.  If you’re a young man or woman in high school, your college choices just might be the equivalent of a career choice; you can’t really afford not to get advice from someone who’s been there.  Want to know what’s ahead of you?  Find someone who’s already walked that path.
 
A good mentor will help you break out of your comfort zone, and push you into new experiences.  He or she will do an honest evaluation of your personal strengths and weaknesses, and perhaps clarify what the real world is all about – it may be markedly different from that which you imagine.
 
And if you are already an accomplished individual – young or old – consider doing what I mentioned earlier: pay it forward.  Make yourself available; be willing to take a young person under wing and impart your hard-earned knowledge, share your years of experience.  Reward yourself in a way that money simply cannot buy; sleep with the knowledge that you have made a difference in the life of a young man or woman they will remember and appreciate every single day.
 
You won’t regret it, and they won’t forget it.

We don’t do a lot of self-back slapping here at Borough Hall.  We allow some - just to stay sane - but when you’re running a marathon and some city agencies do their best, week in and week out, to turn the “race” into an obstacle course, there really isn’t much time or energy for victory laps.  For the most part, I will save those for when I decide to leave the stage.  But there is a milestone I am approaching that I have decided to talk about publicly, having been convinced to do so after receiving a rather harsh email. 
 
A few weeks ago we were contacted by a public school teacher questioning why I was pursuing a charter school for dyslexic students, and wondering aloud if this was an attack by me on public education and unions.
 
I immediately wrote back: An attack on public education and unions?  By me?  Are you kidding?  Clearly you have not paid attention to my career, at all. 
 
As we finalize our submission of this year’s capital allocation requests, my erstwhile budget guru Marie LaFrancesca, who has been by my side every day since I was first elected to public office, apprised me that we were reaching a pretty impressive milestone.  It seems that with this year’s allocation to our local schools, we will top the $100 million mark in funding educational projects during our tenure in public office.
 
You don’t need to say it, because I’m well aware of it: this is taxpayer money and didn’t come from my personal bank account - I get it.  I always have.  That’s why I have always taken very seriously the privilege of allocating taxpayer dollars, and that is why I have tried to ensure your money was used in the best possible way, helping as many Staten Islanders as we could, while achieving the biggest impact possible.
 
I also hear the critics questioning how the Department of Education, with a budget of almost $30 billion, along with a capital plan in the billions, could convince local elected officials to spend precious resources on an education system that has an ever-expanding budget but who never seems to have enough money.   I share the frustration - but I am also left with only two choices.  I can either respond to principals, teachers and parents whose schools have specific needs, or ignore them and tell them to wait on the central DOE. 
 
With the resources at my disposal, I have chosen to address those needs I thought were critical to empowering educators to teach their students as effectively as possible.
 
Lastly, I hear the haters who say “All politicians get money to hand out, so no big deal.”  Let me take a moment for a laugh before I continue, because  I’ve found that laughter allows me to deal with some of the ignorance better than getting angry would.  
 
I would offer this: I was a Republican in a super minority within the City Council, so I willfully and painstakingly decided to build coalitions and bridges when others did not.  I nurtured those relationships until they were genuine friendships, and these relationships allowed me to bring home an outsized share of available funds back to our community.  I make no apologies for having served in an era when there was one solitary process in city government  that allowed me to ensure that Staten Island was finally treated BETTER than fairly.  Today, those in the Council have eviscerated the powers of the Speaker, made every Council Member “equal” in capital and discretionary allocations, and unfortunately over-democratized the body – but that doesn’t change what I was able to accomplish. 
 
I brought back a lot of money for Staten Island and that wasn’t easy, but it was worth it.  And I will take a momentary victory lap for having the values and sensibilities to know that money for technology and libraries was money well spent;  for realizing that every dollar we allocated to our schools was a dollar invested in the critical effort to mold a classroom full of students who were ready to excel on the next level; and for doing what I could to move them along the path to become responsible, accountable and productive Staten Islanders.  There will never be too many of those, I can assure you.
 
I have always believed you didn’t need to have a student in the public school system to root for good schools, or to recognize what it means to each of us personally that these schools excel in creating young adults who are ready for the next steps in life. 
 
Make no mistake:  $100 million of your money has helped to do just that.

Did you know that heart disease is the number one killer of women? February is Women's Heart Health Awareness Month, so now is a great time to learn the facts and fictions about heart disease in women.
 
Myth: Heart disease is only a threat to men.
Fact: Heart disease actually strikes more men than women, and is more deadly to women than all forms of cancer combined. Heart disease claims the lives of one in three American women each year.
 
Myth: Heart disease only affects old people or people who are out of shape.
Fact: Even if you are young, thin and a gym rat, you may still be at risk for heart disease. Heart disease affects women of all ages, though the risks do increase with age. Even if you run marathons, other factors such as high cholesterol, bad eating habits and smoking may counteract your healthy habits. The American Heart Association recommends getting your cholesterol checked starting at age 20, or even earlier if your family has a history of heart disease.
 
Myth: I’m fine because I don’t have any symptoms.
Fact: Over sixty percent of women who die suddenly of coronary heart disease had no previous symptoms. Because symptoms differ between men and women, they’re often misunderstood. TV shows and movies have taught us that the sign of a heart attack is extreme chest pain. This is not always true, especially for women. Women are more likely to experience shortness of breath, nausea/vomiting and back or jaw pain. Other symptoms you should look out for are dizziness, lightheadedness or fainting, pain in the lower chest or upper abdomen and extreme fatigue. If you experience any of these, seek medical attention immediately.
 
Myth: Heart disease runs in my family, so there’s nothing I can do about it.
Fact: Although women with a family history of heart disease are at higher risk, there’s plenty they can do to dramatically reduce it. Eating a healthy diet and exercising regularly can keep your heart healthy. Most importantly, women need to be proactive, know their numbers (blood pressure, BMI, blood sugar and cholesterol) and keep them in a healthy range.
 
Myth: There are many risk factors for heart disease that can’t be changed.
Fact: While some risk factors aren’t modifiable, like age, sex and family history, the majority can be. Lifestyle changes that include quitting smoking, eating better, maintaining a healthy weight and exercising can go a long way to preventing heart disease in women. In fact, more than 670,000 women have been saved from heart disease by making healthy lifestyle changes and being aware of the symptoms.
 
As you can see, there are many things you can do to help lower your risk of heart disease. One of the best ways to prevent heart disease is to visit your doctor—regular checkups can help catch any problems early.
 
You can learn more about heart disease and how to prevent it at www.goredforwomen.org
​

I’ve spent much of my career as a strong advocate for automated external defibrillators (AEDs). This started when I was still a City Council staffer in the late 1990’s, and continued after my election to the City Council.  Throughout this process, I got to meet amazing and strong families who have suffered unimaginable losses when their young and seemingly healthy children died after suffering sudden cardiac arrest, people like Rachel Moyer and the Acompora family. These families ultimately turned their grief into action and have dedicated their lives to getting AED’s into more public places. One of my proudest moments as a City Council Member was passing Local Law 20 of 2005, the first law in New York City mandating AED’s in many public places and buildings.    

Unfortunately, most people don’t know much about sudden cardiac arrest, and 64% of Americans have never even seen an AED. We’re hoping to change that through education and getting AEDs in more public places.

Here five things you might not know about sudden cardiac arrest*:

1. Each year in the U.S., there are approximately 424,000 cardiac arrests outside of a hospital setting and on average, just 5.2% of victims survive.
2. Cardiac arrest affects people of all ages, but occurs most commonly in adults with coronary artery disease.
3. Immediate CPR and early defibrillation with an AED can more than double a victim’s chance of survival.
4. Early defibrillation, along with CPR, is the only way to restore the victim’s heart rhythm to normal in a lot of cases of cardiac arrest.
5. For every minute that passes without CPR and defibrillation, the chances of survival decrease by 7–10%.

*Information provided by the American Heart Association and the American Stroke Association

As you can see, accessing an AED can be a lifesaving measure in many situations. We want to make sure that as many Staten Islanders as possible have access to AEDs and are trained to use them, which is why we recently launched “The Heart Project,” a donation and training program. My office purchased 20 AEDs from our expense budget to be donated to small businesses and non-profit organizations around the Island. We’ve given out many of them, but there are still nine left that need to be distributed.

If you have a small business on Staten Island with fewer than 25 employees, we invite you to apply to receive an AED. We are asking the recipients to train their employees in CPR/AED, and the Staten Island Heart Society is partnering with us to offer reduced rates for their Heart Saver/AED Certified Class. You can apply for an AED at www.statenislandusa.com/aed

I want to encourage all business owners on Staten Island to purchase their own AEDs and get their employees trained in CPR/AED. It truly can mean the difference between life and death.

You demand the best of me from the moment I am sworn into office.   It is right that you should do so.

It is an unspoken and undeniable truth: you demand something in return for giving me your vote and all it implies, and your asking price is that I give 100% of myself to my constituents, which in the case of my current job is the entire borough of Staten Island.  I also know that if I were to let down, if I were to give one iota less than my best, my harshest critic would be the guy I look at in the mirror every morning.

I also know that you would, properly, give me a boot in the ass when the next election cycle rolled around. 

After all, you demand the best I have to give, and I take your demand seriously, as should every elected official at every level of government.  The ones who don’t?  The ones to whom “public service” is an empty moniker, a paycheck with benefits, a means to a self-serving end?  You’ll sniff them out sooner or later; the American voter, the New York voter, the Staten Island voter, is too savvy to be fooled for long.

For my part, I always have – and always will, until I make my exit – looked upon your vote as a contract between two honorable individuals, to be honorably upheld to the best of our ability to do so.  But a contract is, at its heart, an agreed-upon exchange of value.  I readily agree to give what you demand – the totality of my energy and skill – but I am inclined to ask: is your best offer simply an inked circle next to my name on a piece of stiff paper? 

Well, not so fast.   “I will give you the best I have to give” is a promise I make that has real value, something you can take to the bank, and to my way of thinking it’s worth more than just your vote.  I want you to sweeten the deal, so to speak.  

You demand my best?  Then I demand yours.

Here’s what that means: in some way large or small, seen or unseen, you will recognize that although you are an individual answerable only to yourself, you do in fact live with your neighbors, within a community, as part of a town, and you will agree to devote some part of your energies to making things better.  You may think that you already do enough simply by living the life of a responsible adult, but I maintain that no single elected official – or group of them – will ever succeed in making our community all it can be without the cooperation of those folks who have put him or her in office.  And so I ask you to do a little more.

In a book of essays called “The Art of the Commonplace,” Wendell Berry says it better than I ever could:

“While the government is studying and funding and organizing its Big Thought…the citizen who is willing to Think Little, to go ahead on his own, is already solving the problem.  A man who is trying to live as a neighbor to his neighbors will have a lively and practical understanding of the work of peace and brotherhood, and let there be no mistake about it - he is doing that work...”

“It takes a village,” said someone, some time ago.  I have never been a fan of the phrase, nor of the collectivism it implies.  I believe that the most basic component of American society is the individual, free to pursue his or her own aims, goals or desires.  But I do recognize and believe that individuals will, for their own self-interest, sooner or later form a village, and recognize as well that the village has needs that can only be met when many individuals agree that working to benefit the group is, in fact, working to benefit themselves.

Here’s another quote: “The dogs bark, but the caravan moves on.”  It’s a Middle Eastern phrase that has stuck with me over the years.  It means, as I interpret it, that those who never constructively engage with their community, a community in constant search of a better life, are relegated to offering nothing but yelps and snarls from the side of the road.  But they effect no change; they are barely heard.  The caravan moves on without them.

So here’s what I’m asking: volunteer to take on a responsibility beyond the personal one; figure out a way to give to the community something more than simply condemning government in your medium of choice, be it print or digital.  Criticism from those within the caravan is welcome, but from the unengaged?  As I said: the dogs bark, but the caravan moves on.

If I can get you to pick up a piece of litter and drop it in a can, I have not written this for nothing.  If you will engage your neighbors to discuss a solution to something that’s been bugging your community, I won’t have wasted 900 words.  Things as simple as that – or a thousand other things I could list if I had the time or space – is the tiny price of admission to the caravan.

We are, you and I, honorable individuals.  You demand the best of me; now I demand the best of you.

Let’s shake on it.

[NOTE:  Anyone’s who’s been following current events these days has seen the accusation of plagiarism thrown around quite a bit.  I mention it because one of the quotes in this blog piece was used in a column this morning by the Post’s Michael Goodwin.  “The dogs bark but the caravan moves on…” is an old, but scantily used, proverb.  I guess it gained prominence when used by Truman Capote, who poached part of it as the title his book “The Dogs Bark,” a collection of his essays published back in 1973.

Anyway, this blog post has been in the queue for some months now; I just wanted to let you know before I was unfairly accused of plagiarism. J  These days demand such transparency – and that’s not a bad thing.]

​We have been talking a lot about cancer lately, but for good reason. November is lung cancer awareness month, a time to reflect on the second most common cancer and the leading cause of cancer death among both men and women.

The crazy thing about lung cancer is that the vast majority of these diagnoses can be prevented.

Most are related to smoking (or secondhand smoke), or less often from exposure to radon or other environmental factors.

Of course, some lung cancers occur in people without any known risk factors and it’s not yet clear if these cancers can be prevented.

The bottom line here is that if you smoke, you really should quit. About 80 percent of lung cancer deaths are thought to be the direct result of smoking. The longer you smoke and the more you smoke, the greater your risk. Simple.

If you’re a non-smoker spending significant time around secondhand smoke, the news is bad for you too – it’s thought to cause more than 7,000 deaths from lung cancer each year.

While smoking rates have declined in the city, Staten Island is still reporting the highest in all of the boroughs, with 17.4 percent of residents smoking versus 14.3 percent city wide.   

Youth smoking rates are also higher on Staten Island, notes Health and Wellness Director Ginny Mantello, M.D. “It’s important to start early with education and awareness, especially since smoking is an addiction and a gateway - like alcohol - to youth experimenting with other substances later in life,” she said.

City wide, it’s reported that 15,000 public high school students currently smoke cigarettes, a third of whom are predicted to die prematurely as a direct result of smoking. If that’s not grim enough, more than 200,000 children are still exposed to secondhand smoke at home, an unacceptably high number.

While smoking is to blame for most lung cancers, some other risk factors include exposure to Radon, asbestos, and other carcinogens (most likely found in certain kinds of work environments), previous radiation therapy to chest, and other situations.

However, there’s a conversation to be had with your doctor to determine who needs to be screened for lung cancer. Over-screening can be dangerous as there are levels of radiation in the screening. 

“Only in recent years has a study shown that a test known as a low-dose CT scan can help lower the risk of dying from this disease,” Dr. Mantello noted.

To determine if you should be screened for the disease, be prepared to review these criteria with your primary care doctor:

-          Are you 55 to 74 years old?
-          Are you in fairly good health and able to tolerate surgery if needed?
-          Do you have at least a 30 pack-year smoking history?
-          Are either still smoking or have quit smoking within the last 15 years

If you’re still reading this, here’s a quick guide to reducing your risk:
•           Don’t smoke.
•           Avoid secondhand smoke.
•           Get your home tested for radon.
•           Be careful at work. Health and safety guidelines in the workplace can help workers avoid carcinogens.

We don’t know shit. 

“And they began to use a pair of mantras around the office. The first— ‘We don’t know shit’ — kept them humble when they thought they were rolling.”  

This self-deprecating admission comes from a Washington Post article on Chicago Cubs President of Baseball Operations, Theo Epstein, and was one of a few beyond-baseball takeaways that stayed with me after reading it.  I know good counsel when I see it, and so even at the quarter century mark on my life in public service, I readily bought the self-counsel Theo Epstein was selling.  

In my business, hubris is the deadliest of sins.  So when I say, “We don’t know shit,” I am most definitely including myself.  And, of course, you.

I have no problem with people having strong opinions.  I like it actually.  On an Island where the apathetic are more numerous than dangerous drivers, where some elevate disengagement to a level of Zen-like bliss, I have always had, if not a great tolerance, a preference for the opinionated sort. I’d take them any day over a societal zombie with no sense of what it means to be an engaged member of a community.

But if you’re going to bloviate in my direction, I’d appreciated it if you had a semblance of knowledge about the subject matter at hand. 

With the arrival of the internet, everyone in my orbit seemed to use that platform to air his or her viewpoint.  Professionally, I embraced social media early on and saw it as a great tool to pop the bubble that surrounds elected officials, to varying degrees, on every level of government.  It allowed me to engage the public more – and more directly - and to be better informed on just about every issue across the board.  And it gave me a more direct access to divergent points of view.  All right there at my fingertips. 

Suddenly, I could read the thoughts of learned journalists throughout the world.  With the click of a mouse I could be kept better apprised of the goings-on of colleagues.  And lo and behold, revealed in an instant would be the inner-most thoughts of anyone who cared enough about any given topic to discuss it publicly.

This is an opportunity, I remember thinking.  This is a chance to broaden my perspective and learn something from those whose life-experiences differed from my own, who saw the world through a completely different set of eyes.  And I often did.  Cool!

But here’s the deal: we don’t know shit.

You see, a weird thing happened when I began to utilize this tool, this vehicle, in my search to become “better.”  I didn’t just come across new information and new perspectives, I found that I entered a world where everyone’s opinion was actually an undeniable truth, and if you disagreed with it, you did so at your own peril.  Even if your opinion differed in merely a small and seemingly insignificant way - you were wrong.  You were bad.  Perhaps you even warranted a dreaded “label.”
What was once merely a sharing of thoughts and opinions quickly became, “I am right and you are wrong.”  Then it got worse. It morphed into “I am right and you are a horrible human being.” To glean usable information, I now had to sift through gallons, lakes…. oceans of uninformed, ignorant, and insulting rants, all couched in a self-righteous tone that served to suck the oxygen of debate right out of the room. 
​
It ended all discussion, for if anyone had the temerity to see things even slightly differently, each side acted as if the world stopped spinning on axis because of the sheer loathsome stupidity of the other’s opinion.

But here’s the deal: we know shit. Which is to say — despite the haughty attitude and itchy fingers eager to affix a label, apply a generalization or place someone, dare I say, in a basket — YOU know shit.

I recognize that your unique experiences, history and point of view, give you a keen ability to see angles that others don’t.  I recognize that perhaps you have an academic acumen which I cannot match, and must readily acknowledge.  As well, I’m forced to recognize my own deficiencies, which might be the result of ignorance, “privilege,” or just plain lack of experience.  And finally I’m led to the realization that we will have a better dialogue after I concede that not only do I know shit – you do, too.

Theo Epstein is going to the Hall of Fame. He knows A LOT of shit, and I think you do, too.  But if someone at his level of acumen believes part of his success is being vigilant about admitting he doesn’t know it all, shouldn’t you and I take note and grab onto that same belief?

I have worked my ass off in government for 25 years.  I have learned at the knees of great mentors.  People who don’t share my gender, race, religion or sexual orientation have blessed me with their wisdom and friendship and made me a better person.  I care deeply about the covenant I have with the people I represent, and I protect it vigilantly. 
I am good at what I do.  But because I want to be as good at my job as Theo Epstein is at his, I’m going to work on the premise that I don’t know shit.  And I am going to keep working on that premise until the day I finish with this calling and walk off the stage, and then I won’t be heard from again.